Terraria: Corruption Islands
by The Yellow Sonic
Summary: Two people are stranded in a hostile world, their homeland wrecked because of the Corruption. With nothing else to do, the brave one, Jeremy, sets off to adventure and find a cure for the corruption. Rated T for monsters, violence, blood and also just to be safe.
1. Starting Off Annoyed

Chapter One

Starting Off Annoyed

We don't know where it came from or how it got near us, but we did know it was dangerous and couldn't be fought.

I'm talking about the Corruption of course. On my home island it came out of nowhere and before we could do anything our village was bombarded with floating monsters known as Soul Eaters, while Zombies and Flying Eyeballs pestered us at night.

With hardy any fighting equipment, we had no chance of standing up to them, so we evacuated by boat, and to our dismay, we learned Corruption could spread into the ocean. Our boat was wrecked, and I ended up on this deserted island with nothing but a copper short sword, a copper pickaxe and a copper axe and some know-it-all jerk named Scott who calls himself a "Guide", whatever that's supposed to mean.

So now I'm doomed to explore this weird place and find a cure for the corruption and stop it, and that will probably take years.

Wow, I made that story way more tragic than it actually is, because I'm awesome like that. Our boat actually wasn't wrecked, I fell overboard, dunno how Scott ended up with me though. Anyway, let's get to the story.

"First, you need to build a house to protect yourself when night falls, the best and easiest way to build a house is to first chop trees-"

"Shut UP!" I yelled at Scott the "Guide", he was really getting on my nerves, "I know how to build a flippin' house!"

"Well, I'll always be here, it's recommended we talk anytime you get stuck."

"Well, if your the one who knows how to do everything, then why don't YOU do all the adventuring and building?!" I pointed out.

"Saying things is easier than doing things, Jeremy. I'm a bookworm, not a fighter." He replied wittily.

"Correction: You're a lazy idiot who hates every form of physical work and got extremely lucky that he was stranded here with a professional spelunker and architect and not by himself." I counter attacked his reply.

"It's pronounced _Corruption_."

I give up, there's no talking to this guy, I guess I'll just play along as if I've never done anything in my whole entire life and let him help me with the most basic things.

Screw that idea, I'll snap my neck before listening to him babble on about things a fly should know at birth! I wonder if I can craft some ear buds? I should look into that sometime.

It takes some time, but my handiwork eventually becomes a house. I go inside a start working on a simple crafting table so I can make things.

Before I knew it, it was dawn. Scott came inside the house and was obviously in awe of it. I wonder if deep down he's jealous of my gifts, but he knows he has to work to get good at them, so that's probably why he's never tried.

The sun settles behind a hill in the distance and hear a weird banging at my door.

I head towards the door and grip the knob. I freeze as Scott warns me that night is dangerous.

"Be careful outside at night, you may fall or-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm just going to see what that banging is," I said opening the door.

I'm not expecting this when I open the door. "HOLY CRAP, ZOMBIES!" I scream before slashing them down.

"See? I told you!" Scott remarks as a slam the door.

"Yeah? Well why don't you help me fend them off? There bound to break in here sooner or later!" I reply, still shaky after being "pleasantly" surprised by the monstrosities outside.

"That's your job. I'm here to instruct, you're here to construct, and fend off any monsters, too." He says.

"You're not very smart, are you?" I say, looking at him annoyed.

"'Course I'm Smart! I got a college degree in learning!" He says back.

"In learning? What classes did you take? Learnology? Studography?"

"Yes, I got a negative degree in physical education. I'm not allowed to run, lift, exercise or anything!"

"Yeah, and what will happen if you do? Will the police arrest me?"

He takes a moment to think about it, showing I've obviously won the argument."No, but I'll get killed."

"Argument over, I won, go to bed." I say swiftly and he goes to sleep on the floor.

I sat for a while and I suddenly had a thought of how to get rid of the zombies. I opened the door and screamed as loud and ferocious as I could, "RRRRAARGABARGA!"

That did it, the zombies are fleeing! I'm a genius and... oh wait, they left because the sun's rising. Dope.

"Rise and shine, guidy boy." I call to Scott.

He got up off the floor and yawned. "Why don't go find materials to make me a bed." He says tiredly.

"Why don't YOU do that? I'm going mining!" I retort as I head outside.

"Hmmfh! Maybe I will!" Scott actually heads out the door with me.

"Just don't get killed!" I shout to him as I head for a cave I saw the day before.

Crap, I wish I hadn't said that, now he's gonna watch out for himself and come back alive. I sigh loudly as I enter the cave.


	2. The History of Ancient Terraria

Chapter Two

History of Ancient Terraria

I don't realize it, but I had been mining for several hours. I've gotten a bunch of copper, some iron, some silver and even a bit of gold.

I better go back up, about halfway through the journey I started worrying about Scott, I don't know why, but it's just a feeling I'm getting.

As I start climbing back up I think I hear something I don't like. It sounds sort of like a guy being chased by horrible monsters and... oh wait, that's exactly what's going on.

"Hey! You need help down there?" I call to the unknown person.

"Yes! These skeleton's broke my sword, and I've got no armor!" He answers back, and is panting a lot.

I go down and give those skeletons what for, and then try to figure who's fat I just pulled out of the fire.

"Hey, I'm Jeremy, who are you?" I introduce myself.

"I'm Seymour, I'm an archeologist, and a merchant." He says.

"Oh, an archeologist? What are you looking for?" I ask curiously.

"Artifacts from ancient Terraria." He replies.

"Terraria? Is that some lost city or something?" I ask stupified.

"This whole island is known as Terraria, it was a famous and wealthy land until the corruption hit." He replies, looks like he actually knows a bit about this island.

"Oh, cool, why don't you come up with me to my house?" I offer.

"You _live_ here?" He seems shocked.

"Well, uh, it's a long story, I'll tell you later."

"Have you seen any other people? There were several with me, but we got separated."

"No, your the only one." I say and start climbing up the the exit.

"Well, I'm worried, I hope their OK."

"I'm sure their fine, come up with me, we'll find them later."

After about thirty minutes, we arrive home and we fine Scott safe and sound. Looks like he never ended up doing anything after all. "Hey, who's your friend?" He asks.

"Oh, this is Seymour, he said he's and Archeologist and... and something else, I forget." I reply for him, but can't forget what his other specialty was.

"I'm also a merchant, I have some stuff I would like to sell you, and since you've saved my life you can get something for free." He offers.

"Oh cool, thanks, what do ya got?" I say.

He spreads everything he's willing to sell on the ground. "I've got some nice glowsticks, some pickaxes, ooh, and a piggy bank! Isn't that nice?"

"What about that iron anvil?" I suggest.

He slides it behind him. "That's, uh not for sale."

"Probably cause it costs several gold and you want me to pay full price for it later. I saved your life remember?" I remind him, "Would you like it if I made you into some tasty monster bait?"

"Yeah sure, fine, thanks... I guess..." Heh, that' not surprising, he shows all traits of a regular merchant.

I take the anvil, thank him and start smashing my iron into armor.

Later when I've crafted my armor, I feel like hearing more about ancient Terraria.

"Hey, Mr. Merchant Archeologist Indiana Jones whatever... I wanna hear more about ancient Terraria."

"Sure," Seymour said, "Ancient Terraria was a great land, many warriors lived there in a peaceful biome called the Hallow."

"Hmph, nobody believes in the Hallow, it's just an old fairy tale mothers tell to their kids." I interrupt him with my two cents.

"Well, it's real. Then the corruption came, it was terrible, it spread over the land like sickness can spread through people, and swallowed up the Hallow and left nothing but evil and darkness.

"The Warriors and creatures of the Hallow tried fighting back, but it was impossible, the corruption had concentrated so high in areas of the land that nothing could cover it up, and it destroyed the Hallow, so Terraria was left in ruins.

"Over the past 100 years or so, the corruption that swallowed up the land started decreasing, and recently it has been deemed safe enough to explore most of the island."

"Most of the island? Does that mean there's still corruption out there?" I inquire.

"Yes, but it hardly spreads anymore, it doesn't seem to be decreasing either, it had just stopped in the original area of infection."

"Ah, I wonder why it slowed?" I ponder.

"It's unknown yet, but the answer could be very bad." He replies.

"Bad? How could that be bad?" That just sounds ridiculous, I think he's messing with me now.

"Corruption powers ever monster, from the littlest slimes to the biggest floating eyes, just think about that for a while."

Yeah, I think he's still teasing me, "Well, that just sounds like a load a psycho babble."

"I dunno about you, but I'd be worried. Why don't you go look for the others in my party, there was a nurse, a demolition, a hot headed arms expert, and a mechanic." He says.

"That sounds like a good idea, I'll get on to it right in the morning." I say, yawning. Time for sleep now.

I can't sleep though, his words start to worry me, _the answer could be very bad._ It just rings over and over in my head. Maybe he wasn't lying, maybe there is some bad reason why the corruption is decreasing.


	3. Once in a Blood Moon

Chapter Three

Once in a Blood Moon

It just doesn't make any sense, I conclude. I'm just not going to worry about it, I think to myself. There's no way that corruption decreasing could be a bad thing, it just makes absolutely no sense.

I go all "Drill Sergeant" on myself, telling myself I need some sleep and have to stop worrying about corruption, calling myself a "maggot" every time I think of a "what if". I finally manage to get some sleep, but my dreams are fevered.

In my dream, I'm trapped in what appears to be the underworld, and Scott is with me, but he's burning up, and I'm being chased by some disgusting... thing... that almost looks like a living... wall? It has huge eyes and a big gaping maw, and It's closing in on me and it's about to trap me in it's mouth when I wake up.

I wake up and nearly scream, but I know I'm better than that, so I don't scream. Yep, I'm awesome like that.

What could my dream have meant? Why the heck would I be chased by some kind of living wall of flesh? It just doesn't make any sense. Maybe Scott knows.

I go to Scott and posed the question, but it seems to shock him even more than me. "But what could it have meant?!" I yell, trying the break his silence.

He's not talking, maybe he thinks it may have been a glimpse of the future, and doesn't like that fact that he's going to get killed.

I decide to disregard it, dreams can be absolutely wacko without a single meaning attached to it. I decide to explore the surface.

After a bit of hefty trekking I happen upon a desert. It's your usual everyday desert. Sand as golden as corn breakfast cereal, cactus sticking up with small fruit on it, vultures and... wait a minute... VULTURES?!

I let out a wail as a pack of vultures descend on me, these things are worse than the zombies. I close my eyes and swing my newly crafted sword like there's no tomorrow, because there WON'T be a tomorrow for me if I don't and after about ten minutes, I open my eyes and realize they've fled, and there are feathers everywhere. I continue mapping out the world.

It goes back into a prairie for a while, but then I happen upon this huge building. It's green, and there's an old geezer in front of it.

"Hey, who are you?" I say, walking up to the stranger.

"You are a trespasser! Prepare to spend the rest of your days in the dungeon!" He scowls.

"Yeah, and why don't you say that to my sword!" I swing my sword, threatening him to back off.

"Oh, you're armed. Come back here at night, and we'll talk." He suddenly seems friendly for almost no reason.

"Well, okay. Mind if I take a peek inside your mansion?" I ask for no reason.

I open up the door and I see a big pair of red eyes. I think my mind is playing tricks on me, but it seems to coming closer! It's probably not even there at all. I rub my eyes and suddenly I'm pulled out of the building by the old man.

"Don't get yourself killed. Nobody is allowed inside the dungeon to free the prisoners! It's all the will of Skeletron! Anybody who enters the dungeon armed will get immediately slaughtered by the Dungeon Guardian." He warns me.

"Ouch, thanks for saving my bacon, Mr. uhh... what is your name?" I ask.

"I can't remember my name. Come back at night, we'll discuss this later, now begone from this accursed ground!" He says.

"Do you mean just this area, or this whole island?" I can't help wondering.

"Terraria is not cursed by Skeletron, just this dungeon." He answers.

"Welp, I better get going now. I have a lot to do today." I say, dismissing myself.

I climb over the top of the dungeon to take a peek on the other side, and I see the corruption. Yikes, I'd better not get too close to it. I see those floating monsters that attacked my home island.

Once I get home, I start heading in the other direction. Nothing to different, desert, some snow. I happen upon a jungle when I notice it's getting dark.

Dang it! I wish I had noticed before! I'll be caught out at night and be chased by Zombies! "That won't be much fun..." I mutter to myself.

I start running home as the sun settles in the distance and the moon rises. But something's different... I swear the moon is red tonight. I get distracted and start staring at it, until I hear an ungodly sound. "Rrrrarrgh Huhhh..."

I come to my senses and realize there are a ton of zombies behind me. "Oh nutter! Monsters are really swarming tonight!" I say to nobody. I'd be scared, but these guys, like all zombies, are just a mesh of gray scaled pixels.

What? Don't look at me, you'll break the fourth wall even more than I already have, let's just get a move on with the story. Geez, you guys ruin all the fun I'm having here.

Before long, I'm surrounded on all sides by zombies. This is it, if I'm going down, I'm going down heroically!

"Eulaliaaa!" I shout and charge the zombies head on, they were asking for it.

Before long, I'm exhausted, weak and scarred in more places then I'd like to count. How long have I been holding these guys off? I feel like I'm about to be swarmed over and taken down by the zombies, when just in the nick of time, I see Seymour coming through to save my life. "Ugh, what a cliché..." I mutter sarcastically.

"Hey, what gives? I was doing fine out here!" I ask him.

"Well, you had been gone for a while, and I started to get worried, and I didn't want to be stuck for the rest of my life in a tiny house on a stranded island with that nuisance Scott yelling at me all the time." He answers, and yeah, if you ask me, that's a very good answer.

"Ah, so Scott was getting on your nerves? He does that a lot, just ignore him." I say, and I try not to admit that I'm very glad to see him come to my rescue, but I still think it's a clichéd plot twist.

After a while I realize we're getting nowhere. "Hey Sey, shouldn't we try to fight our way home? We've been in the same area for hours!" I yell to him through the thick of the battle.

"Right, which way is home?" He calls back.

"Well just pick a direction! Anywhere's better than here! Maybe we can find some rocks or trees o put our backs against!"

He unwittingly points in the direction of the jungle. "OK, we'll go opposite of that direction, I see, let's get a move a long now!"

He doesn't bother to ask why the opposite direction and we both hack and slash our way home. It takes several hours, but finally we make it to my house.

"You distract them and I open the door and pull you in!" I shout over the rather annoying grunts and roars of the zombies.

I rush to the door and pull the handle, but it's locked! "Okay, what wise guy did this?" I mutter. "Hey, Seymour, the doors locked! I'm going to smash in the window and get Scott to let us in!" He tries to say something but I don't hear him and I smash the window with my sword.

"Hey! Unlo-" I'm cut off by the last thing I expect.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAUGH!" I hear a rather girly screech. I look inside I see the Nurse Seymour was talking about he was with, and she looks rather distressed.

Before I can say anything Scott comes up to me and bops me in the nose rather hard, and I topple over backwards.

"I got him!" He says, excited.

"What? Why did you do that?" I yell at Scott.

He throws a book at me, hitting me squarely in the forehead. "Ow, what the heck, Scott? Let us in!"

He throws another book at me, this time my favorite book, Redwall. "Go away, you fool! Why would I let you zombies in my house?" He days

Upon saying that, I realize that I'm badly scarred in the face and my clothes are tattered, making me look a lot like a zombie to him in the dim light. "I'm Jeremy, let us in before we get killed! Also, stop throwing my valuable book collection, you cad!" I yell at him, it's all I can do not to chop him to bits with my sword.

"Before you get killed? Huh, looks like that's already happened, no can do, Jeremy, go play with your zombie pals." He replies in a harsh tone.

That's it, I ram the door down, breaking it and causing much distress upon the nurse. I call to Seymour and we enter, and I wipe my face off real quick before Scott hits me some more.

"We were trapped outside and almost killed, prop the door back up so the monsters don't get in, I'd do it, but I think I'm about to die." I say, wheezing, and right after that I faint.


	4. In Plain Sight

Chapter Four

In Plain Sight

I don't know whether or not I was pretending when I fainted, but I'm not now. I wake up with a rather splitting headache. The house is empty, all the furniture is gone and... oh wait, my bed is just the furniture piled up with blankets on top.

I muster up all my strength, and try to speak, but nothing comes out. I feel really tired and week. What happened last night? Why did the sky turn red? Why where there more monsters than usual? Why did Scott have to trash some of my favorite books? Ugh, I'll get him for that sometime.

I sit up, and see the Nurse, she's all calm now, unlike last night. Well, that does make sense, Zombies ARE stressing.

Wait, was it last night? How long have I been out? I gaze out the window and see it's morning. Has it just been several hours since that night or over a day?

I fall back asleep and wake up later in the day, feeling much better and refreshed, I get up, and not a soul is nearby. I walk outside. What were they doing?

I found the Nurse nearby, I guess she was looking for those plants that have healing superpowers. Y'know like... uh... blinkroot, I think that's one of them.

I ask her quickly about Seymour and Scott, and she says they went mining over in that cave. I thank her and dash off past them.

Down in the cave, I stumble upon them by accident. "Oh, it's you," Seymour doesn't seem to ecstatic to see me.

"Hey, I'm feeling much better now. What have you guys found?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing..." Seymour stays quiet, but Scott comes up.

"We've found some ore and a rusty old hook, we have no use for it so you might as well have it." He says, tossing me an old piece of metal.

I wave it about, inspecting it, "Y'know, I think I could make a grapple with this..."

I walk over to them and see why they haven't moved, right in front of them is a big pool of lava.

"How are we ever going to cross this?" Scott says.

"Say, Scott, wherever did you find the inspiration to go mining?" I say, laying down some wood platforms over the lava.

"There's only one bed in the house, I need to find some stuff to make my own." He replies, typical Scott.

"Heh, follow me, these wood platforms are quite stable, nothing to be afraid of." I call.

I see a shining gold chest over in a nook. "Well what have we got here?"

Seymour gets excited, it must have something to do with Ancient Terraria. "Yes! Treasure! Terrarians buried treasure for travelers, and the items they stowed away in them can be quite useful, open it up!" He jumps up and down. Perhaps he's thinking these items could be sold for a lot of gold.

I open it up. Nothing inside seems to be of any worth. "An old mirror, some green boots, and a yellow horseshoe. I thought you said they buried useful items?"

"You're right, but the Terrarians also discovered magic, something that no other society has yet to know of. They may be old items, but they're enchanted with special powers!" He explains, looks like he knows his stuff!

I pick up the mirror and we all gaze into it, then something strange happens. I feel a sudden pulse in the air, and suddenly were all standing in my house!

"Whoa... a teleporting mirror!" I admire the object, this must be very useful!

"Give it to me, I'm the archeologist here." Seymour says.

I hold it back, warning him off, "No, it's mine, It'll be very useful, in case I... or YOU get stuck underground."

I decide to put on the boots and hang the horseshoe around my belt. If the mirror is useful than these items probably will be too.

Seymour and Scott deposit there items in a chest I placed, and I open it up to take a look at it. Silver, lot's of silver. I take it, smelt it at the Furnace, and start crafting another piece of armor. It's about time I replaced this Iron armor, deep underground the enemies seem to be more fierce.

After it's complete, I use the leftovers to create a sword and a bow, something I haven't done yet.

I walk outside, and it feels like I'm walking on air. Without realizing it, I've run over to the dungeon. I look at my feet, and I see the boots, the BOOTS! These make me run super fast!

I go around the dungeon, and encounter my old enemy, the corruption! It's time I played them a visit. I charge headfirst into the corruption, firing my bow at those flying monstrosities. I only last a minute overground when I trip into a deep, dark chasm. Oh dear.

I close my eyes. This is bad, what a ridiculous way to die! I wait a bit, and it seems I've been falling for quite a while. I open my eyes, and I'm standing up! Maybe the horseshoe magically cushions your falling!

I light a torch and look up, realizing that those flying demon thingies are after me. I annihilate all of them with my bow. Easy come, easy go.

I look at the ground and realize some items have fallen out of my pockets! I bend down to pick them up. When I snatch up 6 lenses, I stumble and collide with this purple spiky thing. What happens next is extremely weird.

As I pick up the lenses for the second time, they fuse into a rather suspicious looking eyeball. There's writing on it too, but there's a warning label on it that says "Side Affects: Reciting words may summon a powerful monster." I stare at it for a sec. Was that supposed to mean something? I disregard it, stuff the eye in my pocket and start climbing out of the chasm.

Later when I get back home, Seymour ignores me again. Something's definitely up with him.

"Seymour, is something wrong?" I ask him.

"Well, since you couldn't handle a Blood Moon, then I doubt you'll ever defeat the Eye of Cthulhu." He says darkly.

"What? The Eye of Cthulhu?" I have a feeling this has something to do with that eyeball I got in the Corruption.

"It's one of the gigantic monsters that began the spread of Corruption. Legend has it that it still sleeps on this island somewhere. I'm afraid it may attack us during the night and kill us all."

"Oh really, well let me tell you something, Sey, if any giant eyeballs come and attack you, the it'll get a serious bone picking from me, one that it will never forget."

"Yeah... I guess..." He sighs.

I need to show him that I can defeat that monster. I can't have any of my friends being paranoid about giant monsters.

Dawn falls as I go outside to ask Scott about this thing. "Hey Scott, do you have any ideas what this could be?" I ask, waving the eyeball.

"I have no idea, it looks like it has writing on it, tell me what it says."

"Hmm, it says 'Source of the Sight, awaken!"

I close my eyes, expecting to hear the roar of a huge monster. Nothing happens.

I open them back up as the sun settles behind the mountain. "I'm sorry, could you say that again? And hurry up, the sun's set now."

Feeling relieved that the first time saying it didn't summon a monster, I repeat it again.

"Is that it? No novel by Charles Dickens? No-" He's cut off by one of the loudest roars I've heard in my life.

"Egad! Get inside, quick!" I shove Scott as I see a giant eyeball coming from the direction of the Corruption.

Seymour runs outside as Scott enters, he's carrying a makeshift bow. I loose a few arrows off at the Eye and yell at Seymour to get back inside.

"No, I'm fighting it! You'll need help!" He persisted.

Well, that's it, the Eye is in plain sight. Nothing to do now, but fight it, with Seymour.

I hold my broadsword out as it charges into me, dealing it some damage. Then I show it what the pointy things that come from my bow can do as it backs off.

After a cycle of basically repeating that technique, the Eye splits and leaves a huge gaping maw where the pupil used to be. This is disgusting.

I'm unprepared as it makes a head on charge for me, I duck, and it catches Seymour.


	5. Delving Deeper

Chapter Five

Delving Deeper

There's a big problem here, and maybe it's the fact that EVERYTHING EVER HAS GONE WRONG. Scott has tricked me into summoning the Eye of Cthulhu, and it has grown a huge gaping maw, it ate Seymour, and seems to be invincible.

I'm running away now, and throwing shurikens at it whenever I get the chance, but my main intent is to run away, and see if it gets tired chasing after me. I've got these mystical boots that make me run like Sonic the Hedgehog, it's bound to get tired of chasing me some time.

After a little while, the sun comes up, and the Eye starts spinning. Sunlight must weaken it! Now's my chance to strike hard! I throw all I've got at it, arrows, shurikens, throwing knifes, ect, and it gets super mad, and charges into me, at full speed. I draw my sword, holding it out to the Eye, hoping this blow should end it.

I close my eyes and throw all my weight at the Eye. I loose grip of my sword, it flies off into the distance, and the Eye eats me like it did Seymour.

I tumble around inside it, and bump into this wet thing and, oh my gosh it's Seymour! "Seymour! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, but probably not for long, I _knew_ this would happen!" He replies dryly.

"Well, I guess were gonna die,"

"Don't you have a sword?" Seymour asks.

"Now, I lost it and... wait, WAIT! I still have my old one!" Before Seymour can tell me what to do, I thrust down as hard as I can, and the Eye splits, there is a flash of light, and we find ourselves over 10 miles above the ground.

"Well, that almost worked, got any other ideas?" I say, as we plummet down to Earth.

"Yeah, that horseshoe, let's both hold on to it." Seymour suggests.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about this thing." I hold it out to him and we both hold on to the horse shoe that that magically cushions falls.

Later, at the house, Seymour is congratulating me.

"Well, I didn't think you could do it, but you proved me wrong. However, next time, could you avoid getting us eaten?" He says, sounds like the old Seymour is back.

"Well, thank you, I have to admit getting eaten is not something I normally do on a daily basis. If you'll excuse me, I've got a bone to pick with Scott."

I find Scott, he's working on crafting a bed. "You! What have you got to say for yourself?"

Scott hmfed, "Frankly, you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you for what? Almost getting me killed? Ha, that seems like the BEST thing ever to thank someone for." I sputter, sarcastically.

"Well, you defeated it, didn't you? Let's see those souls" He says, making a "hand 'em over motion with his fingers.

"Souls? What are you talking about?" I say.

"What? You're telling me that thing DIDN'T drop it's Soul of Sight?" He crosses his arms.

"Well, are you talking about that burst of light that flew off to the corruption like an airplane after I defeated it?" Maybe what he's going on about actually makes sense.

"Oh no, oh no oh no oh noooooo, this can't be good." He says, darkly.

"Sorry, in this situation you're only allowed a maximum of three horrified noes. Really though, it can't be that bad, can it?" I say.

"The Soul of Sight is one of the three sources of Corruption, and gathering those three souls is essential to stopping the corruption." he goes on, "But if the souls are recaptured by the Corruption then the monsters can just keep coming back and coming back."

"So it's impossible to stop the corruption, then." I conclude.

"There is a way, we could defeat all the monsters, and having the corruption rebuilding all three monsters at once could slow it down, then we strike, and release the Hallow." He says.

"What? Surely you're not saying the Hallow is real! It's just an old fairy tale that nobody believes!" I shout.

"Many of the so called "fairy tales" of the Hallow are not true, but the Hallow itself is realer than you or me." He snaps back.

"Well, how is anyone supposed to prove the existence of something that sounds as stupid as the Hallow?"

"There's an old Terrarian building near the corruption that has a lot of books written by ancient Terrarians, many talk about the Hallow."

"Wait, that building? Isn't that a _DUNGEON_?" I say, shocked that he'd want me to go to such a cursed place.

"It's a dungeon, yes, but it wasn't always a dungeon. It used to be the capitol of Terraria, thousands lived there, and they could easily get to the underground and the underworld from it." He informs me.

"Hmm, the underworld, you say?" I think he's yanking my chain, surely their can't be a place as ridiculous as the underworld!

"Yes, it's a place deep underground. It sounds dreadful, but Terrarians loved the place. They built cities out of the popular "Hellstone" and other ores, such as obsidian, and there were many evil creatures down there they could hunt for sport." He continues.

"Is the place untouched by the corruption?" I wonder.

"No, it's actually had the most influence of corruption, that's how it's spreading all over the islands in this area so quickly." He answers.

"Wait, so if I don't stop the corruption, then it will take over the WORLD?!" I realize with shock.

"Yes, but have you noticed how the corruption has been slowing lately? Something very evil is going on, but you're not quite ready to handle it yet."

"What, don't you mean something very _good_ is going on? How do you know about all this stuff anyway?" I question.

"Oh, that's, it's... ooh... it's hard to explain." He scratches the back of his neck, "Shouldn't you go on to prepare to go to Hallandi- I mean the dungeon?"

"Did you just say Hallandia?" Maybe Scott knows more than he's telling me.

"No, I didn't say anything, run along now!" He says, like he's trying to hide something.

I narrow my eyes at him, and then head out to the cave.

After several hours, I arrive back home. "Aah, nothing like a wonderful trip down into the depths of Earth."

Suddenly, this scary lady pops out of nowhere, surprising me. "Oh, uh... hi." I say.

The lady introduces herself, "Hello, I'm Celestia, I'm a Dryad who lives around these parts."

"Um... you're..." I stammer.

"Yeah, whatever. I saw your 'fight' with the Eye of Cthulhu, I didn't think you would make it, but I have to hand it to you, you did good." She says

"Oh, yeah. I don't really think I did too well. Scott chewed me out for not harvesting the Eye's soul, but I'm not even really sure what he meant by that." I add.

"Wait, Scott still lives here?" She asks, surprised.

"What do you mean 'still'? I thought he got washed up on this god-forsaken place like I did." Something doesn't quite add up here.

She thinks about it for a second, "Oh, um... it's complicated. I'd like to see him, where exactly does he live?"

"He lives with me, we all share a house." I beckon her to follow me.

I show her in. Nobody's home.

"Well, where is he?" She snaps.

"Ugh, he gets around. Maybe he went on a surface trip." I throw out a possibility.

"I dunno, he doesn't take trips this often, it's not like him, but then again, he could be getting better..."

"Well..." I say, "How exactly do you know Scott?"

"I'm 500 years old, I know EVERYTHING that goes around here!" She says, annoyed that I wouldn't know that.

"Umm... yeah sure. Do you know me?" I ask.

"Of course, you're destined to be our sav-" She's stopped Scott entering in through the door.

"Oh, hey there Jeremy, who's the guest?" Scott gasps, Wait! Aren't you Que-"

She cuts him off, "Please, I don't go by that, and I'm sure you don't want to go by your full title, either."

"Um... I'm sorry to break up the reunion, guys, but could SOMEONE please tell me what's going on here?" I shout.

I'm so confused. How could Celestia be 500 _years_ old? How could those two know each other? I'm destined to be _what _now? Was Scott just about to say "_Queen_"? What did she mean by "_Full Title_"?

Scott answers, "You'll find out in good time, toodle off to the dungeon now, there's plenty of good books there for you to read."

Celestia yells at him, "He's too weak to fight Skeletron! He'll get killed!"

I brush her warning off, "Yeah yeah, I've dealt with skeletons before, I'm sure I'll do just fine!"

I close the door before anyone can issue any further warning.

"So... Skeletron, he sounds like a wimp, like a little ol' skeleton who added 'tron' at the end of his name to make him sound like a threat. I bet he's just like the second Tron movie, weak, boring, unexciting, and he'll probably die under my wrath, just like how I smashed several copies of Tron: Legacy at the movie store." I mumble to myself.

Using the boots, I hop along over to the dungeon. Oh, look, there's the Old Man, I forgot about him. "Hey, aren't you that guy who was possessed?" I say.

"Yes, the very same. Are you strong enough to defeat my master?" The Old Man asks.

"I was born strong enough." I reply, confidentially.

"Alright, I'll summon him." He says, and a flash of reddish-orange light bursts out of him and flies into the air.

Was that... Skeletron's Soul? Scott was talking about three souls that were the sources of the corruption... and... oh dear

A giant floating skeleton head and arms spawn from the soul, darn that thing is HUGE.

Welp, I'm dead.


	6. Rogue-Like

Chapter Six

Rogue-Like

I don't know what happened, but I seemed to have been paralyzed by the Soul of Skeletron, and the next thing I know, I've had a very pleasant pull back to reality by Skeletron's giant hand going across my head at a sickeningly fast speed.

I fly back a few dozen feet, and retaliate with some arrows out of my bow, but Skeletron seems hardly fazed by them if at all. Great, just great, and invincible monster, just what I need.

Hiding behind a bush and taking a quick inventory, I remember I have some Healing Potions, and keep them at the ready. If I want to defeat this thing, then I'll have to use most, if not all, of these.

That's it! I've got some grenades, they'll be perfect for throwing at Skeletron!

I charge out from the cover, pull the pin on the grenade, and get ready to throw it, "Eat this you boney-" Skeletron knocks me back with it's hand again.

OK Jeremy, you have to sit up. You've defeated a gigantic floating eye, defeating a giant skeleton twice the size of that eye shouldn't be much different, should it? Come on! You've got plenty of grenades, and, oh, CRAP.

I stare at the grenade for a second and realize it's about to explode. In my fright, I chuck it faster then I ever thought I could have done before, and it contacts Skeletron's hand, it explodes, and knocks that hand into the wall of the Dungeon.

Good, that actually did a number on him. That hand's got very visible cracks on it.

This time, I prepared as the hand sails by and contacts where I was standing not seconds before. The hand cracks even more upon contact with the ground, and I throw a grenade down onto it.

Good, I'm...

I'm flying through the air again.

I contact with the side of a nearby natural dirt wall, not a very nice feeling, and I wouldn't recommend it at all. I stare back at Skeletron, and I see it's head rolling towards me.

I scream, and jump out of the way. I don't want to feel that again anytime soon, considering that same head knocked _my_ head into the wall just a second ago.

His head is close, and a grenade would be dangerous, so I don't want to risk it. I pull out my sword, and strike as hard as I possibly can. Well, that hardly did anything. There's a small crack in it's head, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt. After all, he is just blood and bones.

As the head goes back into position, I slurp down a healing potion and throw some more grenades. This is getting tedious. I've thrown like 10 grenades and that thing still hasn't stopped.

Hooray, I'm flying through the air, AGAIN. This time, it's hand knocked me upwards, and I'm flying above Skeletron now. I try the sword again.

As I fall, I strike down hard against the most cracked arm. The hand splits off, and the entire thing collapses limp on the ground, as well as me.

Oof, I really wish I had not left that Magic Horseshoe with Seymour, falling is not a very good feeling.

I get back up, I think I'm doing good, provided that the thing doesn't eat me. I pull out another potion, but for some reason, ingesting another potion seems, just... impossible, I feel sort of a sickness staring at it. I stuff it back into my bag. Back to the fight.

I pull out some some more grenades, and focus throwing them, the second hand splits. Now for the head.

I throw my last few grenades at the skull of Skeletron, and make a lasting impression, but it still holds out.

Now what? I'm out of grenades. What do bones hate? Water? No... Lava? Nah, I haven't even got any of that. Ahah! Bones hate hitting hard surfaces!

I wait until it starts it roll attack, and quickly jump hide inside the dungeon, and the Skull falls apart upon the rather hard and very loud contact with the hard walls of the dungeon. I walk out, just in time to catch the reddish-orange glow flying off in the direction of the corruption.

I need to sit down, so I do. I drink another healing potion, and stare at the shattered pieces of Skeletron's skull.

I don't feel too well. I should have listened to Celestia, I should have waited before fighting Skeletron, but, I beat him.

I put some torches down in the first room, and I clearly see books, BOOKS! YES! All I've had were a few of my favorite books that I managed to save from my book collection, several which were trashed by Scott because he had been throwing them at Zombies and also me.

I take a look at some of the books. They're all written in an ancient language, but it's one I learned in high school, so I can translate most of it. I believe the language is called "Terranese" or something dumb like that.

One of the catches my eye, it says it was written by a "King Scott". I wonder if he's somehow related to my buddy- er... guide, Scott. The chances of that are slim though, so I put no thought into it.

The book is about the corruption. In the book, it says "The Corruption is the source of all evil, and if left to it's own devices should destroy itself and go away forever.". Ha! Fat chance, no wonder the Terrarians were overwhelmed by the Corruption. This guy must have been a stupid king.

I go outside the dungeon and see the Nurse searching around. Just then, I realize that I've had no proper introduction with her, I never even caught her name.

"Hey, what are you looking for?" I ask.

"Oh, well I'm looking for you, and I guess I've found you!" She walks in the dungeon, hesitantly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same question, I'm adventuring. Perhaps some of the people in your party were trapped in this dungeon."

"Ah, well, Celestia kept going on about all the dangers in the dungeon, and I thought maybe you'd need help. Also, the two got into a very big fight about something that happened 300 years ago, and I really didn't want to stick around with them bickering." She paused for a moment, not sure of what to say next, "OH! Right, I'm Amy, and you're Jeremy, I presume?"

"Yeah, the very same. I thought you were afraid of the monsters," I say as I shake her hand.

"Well, the only way to face your fears is to confront them, right?" She says, confidentially.

"Of course! Come on in, I bet there's all sorts of loot in this place." I walk down the dark staircase.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a Skeleton appears, seemingly out of nowhere, in front of us and starts shooting bolts of water.

That thing seriously thinks it'd hurt us with water? I reach up and touch the water bolt. "OW!" I shout as the waterbolt sends a feirce sting throughout my body. In an instant, I slay the skeleton for such a dirty trick.

"Ugh, that skeleton was a jerk!" I sputter as my fingers start paining badly. I ignore it. "Besides that one skeleton, it's been pretty quiet. I bet there's not much in this dunge- WHOA!"

I trip and fall of a ledge, into a room that is dimly lit by a lantern hanging from the ceiling by a tough looking chain. I get up, and am suddenly surrounded by skeletons!

One charges straight towards me, I land a heavy blow with my sword into it's ribs and it crumbles into fine dust. These guys are easy! I gain confidence as I defeat the other skeletons around, as Amy climbs down into the room with a rope. "Are you alright?" she aks, urgently.

"I'm fine, the skeletons are nothing!" I reply back. Something shiny glints in the corner of my eye.

It's a key. One of the skeletons was holding a key. "Huh, I wonder what this key is for?" I think out loud.

"I see some locked chests over there" She points into the dark. I notice a sparkle, but can't see any thing else.

"Jeez, how many carrots do you eat in a day?" I say sarcastically as I walk to the four gold plated chests.

I try out each one for the key, and it only unlocks one. I reach inside and- "YOWCH" I pull my hand back in retaliation, the stinging fingers are cut deep.

"Are you OK? I'll look at your hand!" She says, applying a cobweb bandage on the cuts after applying some sort of liquid concoction. That feels so much better, I'm glad she came along.

"Thank you" I mutter as I pull a very light sword with a sharp blue blade from the chest. I had grasped the blade, and that's what cut me, I think as I notice my blood drip off the blade.

I swing the sword left and right, testing it. It's easy to swing,"This is a nice sword, I wonder who forged it."

"Maybe it's a dark and evil sword that has the power of the corruption." Amy says back, she has a good point. This whole place has been under the influence of the corruption for a long time.

"Maybe it is, but hey! The only way to fight fire is with fire, right?" I bring up an even better point.

"Yeah of course, anyway, don't you hear a strange noise?" Amy comments, changing the subject.

It sounds like someone is speaking into their pillow, you know, when all you hear is "Mmf mmf umf fmmf" and all that.

"You know, I think it's-"

"Hey! Someone down there is tied up!" She interrupts me, which was almost exactly what I was about to say anyway.

I light up a torch, and realize there are two people down there. One, a girl who is tied up that looks like some sort of mechanic, and the other, a dark man, is laying knocked out on the floor. I'm not sure what he is, but in is hand is a broken... shark? The shark seems to have half swallowed a gun. I don't even want to know what he was doing with it.

We scale down the wall. I untie the mechanic and Amy tends to the black man.

After freeing the mechanic she mutters a quick thank you and then runs over and tells the whole story to Amy, it's obvious they were good friends.

"Amy, it's me! Nancy! Anyway, so me and Darius were walking, we has been separated from the rest of the group, and we came across this buiding, see. There was the old creepy guy who told me we were trespassers, and he tied me up and slung me down here as skeleton food! Oh it was horrible! But then, Darius charged in after me, he wouldn't have me being eaten see, and this giant skeleton came out of nowhere and started attacking him! It was terrible! But then, the skeleton suddenly disappeared in an orange flash and left us down here to die! WAAAH!"

After hearing that overly dramatic and boring story, I pledged never to listen to girls talking ever again. Ever. It's like watching bad kids cartoons. After the black guy recovered, Nancy thanked him for being such a "hero", even though it was me that did all the work.

"Um... shouldn't I be the hero here? While this punk was being attacked, I was bravely battling a gigantic skeleton I was under prepared for, and I _beat_ him, that's what caused the Dungeon Guardian to dissapear! And, I also came down all this way and untied you!"

Nancy stared at me for a second, and then starting rambling to Amy about what the dungeon was like and how she was so "scared".

I cover my ears and walk off to find more loot.

I enter a room teeming with skeletons. Normally, I would have zipped right out and avoided them, but something strange happened that had never happened to me before. A red mist clouded my eyes as I started hacking away at the skeletons with no thought of my personal safety. The red mist clears and all that is around me is a pile of bones and dust.

What happened? It seems I was seduced by some sort of dark magic, or possibly something like the Bloodwrath that is commonly referred to in the Redwall series.

Anyway, I find three keys among the hordes of bones and travel back up to the locked golden chests and open them.

I be careful not to cut myself as I pull the items out. What I find is a prime blue flail, several gold coins, a blue shield, a dark purple pulsating key, and some sort of spell book with only one page.

I cram it into hammer space along with all the books I found and leave the dungeon. I see no trace of the others so I assume they already left.

I'm glad to be out of the dungeon, being in there was like playing a harsh rogue-like game.


End file.
